


Late-night talks

by LonelyAngel



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Smoking, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 23:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11023716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyAngel/pseuds/LonelyAngel
Summary: Tyler is sitting in a park at night, when a stranger walks by





	Late-night talks

It's dark outside. Tyler sits on a bench in the park. The park is closed since 8 pm, but Tyler is still there. Everyone is gone and the park is empty. Tyler likes it in the park. He went here the first time today and he loved the trees and the small river and the green grass. The park was crowded in the afternoon, but now it is silent.  
Tyler just moved to the city a few days ago, he's still a stranger. It's scary, living in a new city on his own. Tyler hoped it would boost his self-confidence, but he just feels lost.  
Tyler hears footsteps and he looks up. He sees the silhouette of a person moving towards him. He is a bit scared, he's not very strong and pretty bad at self-defence. Tyler bites his lip and takes a deep breath. He's not in danger, he's safe, it's just another stranger like himself.  
The person is close, and Tyler can see that it's a man. He's wearing a black, thick jacket and a snapback. Tyler can't see his face. The stranger walks by without attenting Tyler and disappeares in the darkness. Tyler releases a deep breath. Nothing happened.  
Soon, he forgets about the stranger, but after half an hour, the stranger returns and walks back to the entry of the park. This time, he's smoking and carrying a pack of cigarettes in his hand. He nods at Tyler when he passes by, but Tyler can't help but tense up. He's afraid of the man who disappeares between the trees, just leaving the smell of smoke behind.  
  
The same thing continues for almost a week, Tyler sits on his bench and around 11pm the stranger walks by, always wearing his jacket and his snapback, ignoring Tyler the first time, returning half an hour later, smoking and nodding at him. Tyler never sees his face. Tyler isn't afraid anymore. The stranger is intimidating, but he respects Tyler's personal space. He's the only person Tyler knows in the new city.  
  
Eight days after Tyler saw the man the first time, he sits on his bench and waits for the man to show up, when he hears voices. A bunch of teenagers stumble through the park, laughing and talking way too loud. They're drunk, totally wasted and they stop in front of Tyler. Tyler starts to shiver slightly, he's ready to run away, he's scared.  
"Yo..." one of the teens says, but it seems like he forgot what he wanted to say, because he stops and stares at Tyler.  
"Yo, listen..." he says.  
A girl giggles. "Whaddaya wanna say?" she slurs.  
"Huh...I dunno..." the guy mumbles. He's taking a step back and forth to find his balance. Tyler watches them and he doesn't know what to do. Another guy has a bottle in his hand and it slips through his fingers and shatters into a million pieces. Drops of alcohol splash on Tyler and he flinches. The others yell at the guy for letting the bottle with the alcohol fall. A few of them are definitely underage. One boy looks like fifteen.  
Tyler glances at his phone. It's 11:02 pm. Time for the stranger to show up.  
The stranger walks through the park three minutes later. He sees the teenagers, but he keeps walking slowly. Finally, he reaches the bench.  
"Listen, you guys better go now. I think you had enough for tonight." he says calmly. The kids protest, but the stranger repeats his words and they leave.  
"Thanks." Tyler mumbles.  
The stranger shrugs. "No problem."  
He continues walking. Tyler watches him leave. He knows there's a gas station on the other side of the park where the stranger probably gets his cigarettes.  
Tyler waits twenty minutes until the man returns. This time, he stops at Tyler's bench, but he keeps a safe distance. He blows the smoke out of his nostrils and takes a drag.  
"Want one?" he offers Tyler a cigarette. Tyler shakes his head. "No, thanks."  
That's the whole conversation for the night. The man smokes his cigarette and leaves.  
  
"Do you want to accompany me?" The stranger asks the next night.  
Tyler nods and stands up. They walk through the park to the gas station and the man buys his daily pack of cigarettes. In the light of the shop, Tyler can see the man's face. He has a nose ring and red dyed hair. They leave the shop and walk slowly back to the bench.  
"What's your name?" Tyler asks.  
The man inhales the smoke. "Josh."  
"I'm Tyler."  
Josh simply nods and they walk in silence until they reach the bench.  
They sit down and Josh smokes his cigarette while Tyler rambles about his life. He tells everything, about the new city, how alone he feels, that he loves to come to the park because his apartement is empty and cold and Josh listens, but never reacts in any way. He doesn't talk about himself, he just listens to Tyler. After an hour, Tyler stops talking. He feels better.  
  
It's another routine since then. For weeks, Josh shows up at 11pm, they walk to the gas station and back without talking and then Tyler talks about everything he wants to, needs to talk about, because otherwise his mind would explode and when he's finished, they both walk home and see each other again the next night. Josh never talks. Tyler only knows his name. The only thing Josh says, is 'see you tomorrow' when they leave the park.  
  
One night, Josh forgets to say his sentence. Tyler notices it when he's already at home, falling asleep in his bed. It doesn't matter.  
  
Josh doesn't show up the next night. Tyler waits all night long, until it's 4am. He knows he needs to go to sleep, but he can't. He needs to talk to Josh. He needs to get rid of his feelings.  
But Josh doesn't show up. Maybe he's ill? Tyler wonders. Maybe he can't come tonight. He will be there tomorrow. Tyler has an uneasy feeling when he leaves the park and walk home.  
  
He sees Josh never again. Tyler waits for almost three weeks, every night he sits on his bench, but Josh never shows up again. Tyler is a stranger again, lost in the city.


End file.
